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UNIVERSITY 


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THE  SERPENT  SLIPS  INTO 
A MODERN  EDEN 

OR 

NANCY  KERLEE  and  HER  CRIME 


BY 

James  A.  Turpin 


t 


No  matter  how  innocent  and  fair  the  face  of  things — 
“Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out." 


RALEIGH 

Edwards  & Broughton  Printing  Company 
1923 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1923,  by 
James  A.  Turpin,  in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress 
at  Washington,  D.  C. 

(All  Rights  Reserved.) 


3<W,  3 

T1S1S 


DEDICATED 

TO 

The  Cause  of  Christian  Education 

of  THE 

Rising  and  Future  Generations 
of  the  Common  Mass  of 
Our  Mountain  People 
The  Best,  Most  American  and 
Most  Promising  Citizenry 
in  the  World 


“The  iniquity  of  the  fathers  shall  be 
visited  upon  the  children  to  the  'third  and 
fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate  me.” 
— Bible. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

1.  An  Earthly  Eden 15 

2.  The  Spirit  of  Crime 23 

3.  In  Woman’s  Form 32 

4.  The  Valuable  Citizen 39 

5.  The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  ....  45 

6.  The  Searching  Party 68 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

The  Murderess 76 

The  Searchers 68 

The  Discovery 70 

When  the  Stones  Were  Rolled  Away . . 72 


INTRODUCTION 

It  is  strange,  but  mankind  has  always 
been  interested  in  the  subject  of  crime. 
The  philosopher  has  tried  to  dig  into  the 
mystery  of  the  coexistence  of  good  and 
evil  in  this  Earth  of  ours. 

Different  races  and  nationalities  have 
their  different  religious  theories  as  to  the 
prevalence  of  two  principles  in  the  human 
experience — the  one  tending  to  darkness 
and  wickedness,  and  the  other  to  light 
and  righteousness.  These  mysteries  are 
beyond  the  wisdom  of  man  to  penetrate. 
They  are  confined  to  that  Being  whom  we 
call  God,  and  He  may  not  see  fit  to  reveal 
them  to  his  creatures,  either  here  or  here- 
after. 

But  there  are  men  known  as  criminal- 
ogists,  who  have  exercised  their  utmost 
energies  in  the  study  of  men  in  connection 
with  crime.  These  tell  us  that  the  tend- 
ency to  crime  is  inherited  in  some  cases, 
and  that  tendency  bursts  into  full  fruitage 
in  the  overt  act,  under  what  might  cor- 
rectly be  termed  the  force  of  pernicious 

[71 


8 


Introduction 


education  and  environment  through  the 
process  of  generations.  This  proposi- 
tion being  admitted  as  true,  the  reverse 
would  be  equally  true:  that  the  only  way 
to  reduce  to  the  minimum  of  natural 
tendency  to  evil  in  the  natures  of  men  is 
to  afford  the  individual  the  best  training 
and  the  happiest  moral  surroundings 
through  the  generations. 

Men  are  asking  the  question  from  every 
quarter  of  the  world : How  are  we  to  get 

the  tiger — the  disposition  to  spring  on  the 
unwary  and  the  helpless — out  of  men? 
We  are  told  by  adepts  and  specialists  of 
a thousand  ways,  but  there  can  only  be 
one  real  way,  and  that  is  education. 

The  most  highly  conceivable,  yet  ad- 
mittedly obtainable,  result  of  education 
is  the  redemption  of  a human.  This 
education  or  redemption  is  not  thought 
of  by  Christians  except  in  connection 
with  that  truest  of  all  forms  of  training 
as  laid  down  in  the  program  of  Christ  two 
thousand  years  ago,  and  under  whose 
system  the  human  race  has  made  more 
headway  toward  the  final  subjugation  of 


Introduction 


9 


crime  than  in  all  the  preceding  ages  of 
man  taken  together.  Under  this  incom- 
parable form  of  training,  as  by  a miracle, 
the  vilest  criminal  may  be  transformed, 
educated  into  a reasoning,  just  and  happy 
creature;  but  he  lives  in  the  being  and  by 
the  sufferance  and  grace  of  the  sublimest 
of  Teachers. 

It  is  by  this  system,  aided  by  that 
school  of  human  teachers  known  as 
Christians,  that  the  prophets  of  good 
hope  to  accomplish  the  abolition  of  the 
only  sure-enough  slavery  that  has  yet 
cursed  the  race — the  slavery  of  sin. 

It  were  best  that  men  everywhere 
should  enter  the  school  of  the  Teacher 
who  taught  as  never  man  taught.  Sooner 
or  later,  whether  we  will  or  not,  we  shall 
have  to  bow  to  that  Prince  of  Preceptors. 
Hadn’t  I rather  bend  the  knee  to  a dear 
and  honored  leader  with  whom  I am  on 
long  and  affectionate  terms  of  intimacy 
than  to  one  whose  overtures  I had 
spurned  and  against  whose  personality  I 
had  willfully  and  persistently  rebelled? 
The  tuition  of  the  Great  Teacher  is  as  free 


10 


Introduction 


as  the  mountain  brooklet.  The  colleges, 
universities  and  great  Christian  common- 
school  system  of  the  State  are  His  agents. 

It  is  only  through  these  and  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Christian  home  that  crime 
can  be  eliminated  from  the  moral  body 
of  the  individual  and  society.  The  soon- 
er the  majority  of  the  people  find  this 
out  the  better.  And  this  miracle  cannot 
be  performed  in  a day.  It  will  take 
generations  and  centuries  of  patient  and 
heroic  effort. 

A barbarian  or  a man  with  the  most 
pronounced  primitive  instincts  trans- 
formed into  a gentle,  peaceable  and 
tractable  human,  is  nothing  short  of  a 
walking  miracle.  It  is  little  less  a miracle 
to  take  the  child  of  cultured  and  refined 
parentage  and,  by  a process  of  soul- 
culture,  so  elevate  the  moral  perceptions 
of  that  child  as  even  to  turn  him  into 
society  a decided  improvement  upon  his 
parents  and  forbears.  Happily  for  the 
destiny  of  man  and  the  gradual  advance 
of  society,  this  very  near-miracle  is  tak- 
ing place  every  day. 


Introduction 


11 


The  hope  of  society,  and  this  gradual 
but  certain  development  of  the  highest 
ideal  in  society,  is  through  a thoroughly 
Christianized  school  system;  a system  of 
education  and  training  that  shall  take 
into  consideration,  first  and  foremost,  the 
child  as  a citizen  in  embryo  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, as  well  as  a human  soul,  with 
its  vast  individual  and  social  responsi- 
bilities and  immortal  destiny. 

When  men  become  thus  equipped  their 
moral  vision  will  become  more  and  more 
keen  and  lengthened  out,  and  they  will 
blame  the  unfortunate  individual  culprit 
less  and  themselves  more  for  the  moral 
relapses  which  sometimes  occur  in  the 
most  horrible  and  revolting  forms.  “Am 
I my  brother’s  keeper?”  Never  in  the 
experience  of  good  men  has  there  re- 
bounded with  such  tremendous  emphasis 
the  affirmative  answer  to  that  age-old 
question!  It  is,  like  all  eternal  questions, 
a conscience  question,  and  it  cannot  and 
will  not  go  unheeded.  It  demands  an 
answer. 


12 


Introduction 


And,  we  repeat,  as  the  most  degraded 
of  human  beings  are  generations  and 
centuries  in  the  making,  so  the  best  and 
noblest  of  mankind  are  ages  in  their  cul- 
tivation and  development. 

Wealth  cannot,  and  never  will,  make 
a noble  man;  but  a trained  mind  and  right 
conduct  can.  This  is  an  oft-repeated  and 
fundamental  teaching  of  the  Master.  It 
is,  therefore,  the  duty  of  the  wise  and 
good  of  every  community  to  see  to  it 
that  the  less  fortunate  neighbor  has  the 
accessories  of  good  citizenship : good  roads 
good  schools,  orthodox  Christian  churches 
and  benevolent  institutions,  where  the 
widow  and  the  orphan  and  the  helpless- 
aged  may  find  sustenance  and  shelter. 
The  reaction  of  such  upon  society  is  in- 
effable and  sure,  and  beautiful  as  the  sun 
at  noonday. 

Society  will  remain  abnormal  and  out 
of  joint  until  the  local  and  State  govern- 
ments turn  their  attention  to  the  treat- 
ment of  social  ills  by  the  practice  in  all 
cases,  major  as  well  as  minor,  of  what  is 
known  among  physicians  as  preventive 


Introduction 


13 


medicine.  That  is,  when  they  see  symp- 
toms of  criminality  in  the  small  child, 
begin  by  prescribing  a course  of  mind 
and  soul-medicine.  If  it  require  the 
sharp  severance  of  family  ties  and  the 
consignment  of  the  patient  to  a distant 
institution  and  among  strangers,  the 
greater  the  blessing  for  the  subject  and 
the  State. 

There  have  been  fewer  crimes  of  the 
baser  and  unspeakable  sort  committed 
in  the  fair  mountains  of  the  South  than, 
perhaps,  in  any  other  similar  population 
of  the  world.  But  crime  is  not  a growth 
of  the  soil  or  a contagion  of  the  air;  it  is 
a product  of  the  dark  underworld,  where 
there  are  no  stable  footings  or  gold- 
shafted  sunbeams.  It  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  had  Nancy  Kerlee  or  Frances 
Silver  had  the  proper  education  and 
training  from  infancy,  the  capability  for 
crime  in  either  of  them  could  have  been 
neutralized  and  the  horrible  deeds  for 
which  they  were  called  to  account  had 
never  materialized.  Society  has  failed 
of  its  opportunity  if  it  does  not  profit 
by  such  examples,  however  extraordinary. 

James  A.  Turpin. 


Waynesville,  N.  C. 


CHAPTER  I 


An  Earthly  Eden 

Lying  upon  the  southeast  slopes  of  the 
Balsam  Mountains,  and  spread  out  under 
the  rising  sun  beyond  the  gliding  Pigeon, 
is  one  of  the  fairest  counties  in  the  Old 
North  State.  It  seems  to  have  been 
created  for  all  that  a pastoral  region 
could  suggest.  The  mountains  are  not 
as  compelling  in  their  size  and  grandeur 
as  they  are  inviting  in  beauty  and  mild 
and  mellow  contour. 

The  loitering  brooks  and  creeks  moisten 
the  green  fringes  of  the  meadows  as  much 
as  to  say,  “We  are  in  no  headlong  hurry 
to  mingle  our  peaceful  waters  with  tur- 
bulent old  Atlantic.”  A hundred  dewy 
meads  smile  in  the  serene  and  sad  sun- 
shine of  autumn.  A thousand  bossy  dells 
sparkle  with  wild  flowers.  Ten  thousand 
hillocks  are  crowned  with  the  dark  green 
affluence  of  the  royal  sweet  potato,  and 
the  neighboring  persimmon  bends  under 
the  burden  of  his  perennial  promise  when 


16  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


the  frost  is  on  his  fruitage  and  the  “bark 
is  on  the  dog.” 

Ah!  the  glory  of  old  Haywood  in  the 
fall!  When  her  green  hillsides  begin  to 
rattle  and  quiver  under  the  piercing  feet 
of  her  herds.  When  the  Devon,  and  the 
Hereford,  and  the  Scotch  Shorthorn,  and 
the  Aberdeen  Angus  begin  to  roll  and 
bellow  toward  the  shipping  pens  of  the 
Southern  at  Clyde  on  the  Pigeon,  and 
their  owners  of  good  Scotch  origin,  roll 
the  greenbacks  into  their  jeans. 

It  is  interesting  indeed  to  trace  men 
back  to  ancient  spring-heads  and  to  find 
how  that,  not  only  do  they  bring  down 
the  color  of  the  hair  and  the  gaits  and 
manner  of  speech,  but  the  scent  of  old 
soils,  the  lure  of  forest  and  mountain 
and  the  hankering  for  certain  ancestral 
occupations  and  trades.  And  so  the  fore- 
fathers of  these  Haywood  cattlemen  did 
not  stop  in  the  lowlands,  but  followed  the 
rising  sun  until  they  came  up  so  high 
that  they  felt  something  in  the  crisp 
morning  air  that  reminded  them  of  the 


An  Earthly  Eden 


17 


breath  of  their  old  lochs  and  bens  (lakes 
and  mountains)  over  the  sea. 

These  first  families — these  old  settlers 
of  Haywood — how  one  should  like  (if 
space  would  allow)  to  mention  them  all 
by  name,  and  tell  of  the  toils  and  depriva- 
tions which  they  welcomed,  challenged 
and  conquered  in  building  the  plain, 
though  solid,  foundations  of  the  civilized 
society  upon  which  their  offspring  have 
builded,  and  the  benefits  of  which  are 
only  now  beginning  partially  to  be  under- 
stood and  enjoyed. 

Men  of  Haywood,  we  are  heirs  of  a 
rich  and  princely  domain.  The  natural 
soil — these  old  red  hills  and  smiling  vales 
and  dark,  loose  coves,  these  steep  es- 
carpments of  the  mountains,  these  level 
stamps  where  the  cattle  and  sheep  are 
wont  to  lie  and  bask  in  the  alternate 
sun  and  shade,  are  all  ours  for  the  coax- 
ing and  the  smiting  by  modern  tools  and 
implements  of  farming  and  stock-raising. 

There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of 
acres  of  land  that  literally  are  weighted 
down  with  over  a hundred  varieties  of 
2 


18  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


timber-trees  and  ornamental  shrubs;  the 
ground  is  deep  on  the  surface  with  leaves 
and  loam  and  undergrowth,  which  hold 
the  rains  in  check,  feed  the  soil  and  pre- 
vent erosion.  It  is  Nature’s  way  of  con- 
serving and  compensating  herself.  This 
can,  by  the  exercise  of  common  sense  by 
the  citizens  who  own  these  mountains,  or, 
better  said,  hold  a lease  from  the  Great 
Conservator  for  life  on  them.  The  local 
and  State  governments  should  prescribe 
the  rules  in  the  main  for  the  management 
of  the  mountains  and  streams.  It  is  a 
well-understood  fact  that,  without  the 
interposition  of  the  State,  the  citizen  or 
the  nonresident  landowner  has  the  right 
to  do  with  his  own  as  he  will,  the  present 
generation  may  lose  sight  of  that  other 
equally  important  fact  that,  in  a very 
serious  and  appealing  sense,  the  future 
generations  have  the  profoundest  moral 
rights  to  the  soil  of  their  ancestry,  and 
these  call  loudly  for  the  respect  of  each 
succeeding  generation  as  time  goes  on. 

The  people  are  entirely  too  listless  and 
free  in  the  treatment  of  the  common 


An  Earthly  Eden 


19 


domains.  And  this  accounts  for  the 
intrusion  and  interception,  if  such  it  may 
be  styled,  of  the  General  Government. 
The  people  just  will  not  zealously  and 
judiciously  guard  their  native  soil.  They 
will  devastate,  and  they  will  sell  to 
the  highest  bidder,  and  away  goes  the 
fatherland.  And  here  is  the  prime  excuse 
for  national  forest  preserves  and  the  like. 

If  only  the  citizens  of  Haywood  could 
be  educated  to  see  the  importance  of 
holding  with  a death-grip  to  the  soil  of 
their  fathers,  then  it  would  remain  their 
inheritance;  and  their  Eden  should  never 
be  despoiled  by  the  ruthless  and  con- 
scionless  hand  of  commerce. 

There  is  absolutely  no  inconsistency, 
no  conflict  between  the  retention  of  these 
mountains,  in  the  main,  by  their  fine, 
stalwart  native  population  and  the  trans- 
formation of  the  region,  high  and  lifted 
up,  where  the  tired  man  and  his  wife 
from  the  busy,  stuffy  city,  may  come  and 
build  their  bungalow  and  play  to  their 
hearts’  content. 


20  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


The  world  is  yearning  for  peace.  It 
can  come  as  nearly  finding  peace  in 
these  mountains  of  ours  as  any  other 
segment  of  Earth.  It  hovers  in  smiling 
valley  and  heavenly  height  with  a bene- 
diction that  reminds  one  of  eternity.  So 
much  so  that,  when  the  spirit  of  crime 
stalks  abroad  at  midnight,  the  whole  of 
the  mountains — each  tree  and  cavern  and 
rock-bound  cove — seem  to  quake  in  the 
common  revulsion. 

In  this  lofty  region  of  blue  sky  and 
crystal  waterfalls  the  spirit  of  crime 
in  its  most  hideous  mien  steals  upon  a 
victim  once  in  a long,  long  while.  Here, 
in  this  physical  Eden,  the  life  and  prop- 
erty of  man  are  more  sacred  and  inviolate 
than  in  almost  any  other  clime  where 
man  exists. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Carolina  moun- 
tains, of  whom  those  of  Haywood  County 
are  among  the  best,  would  disdain  to 
impose  on  a weakling,  or  force  money 
from  a helpless  victim  at  the  point  of  a 
gun. 


An  Earthly  Eden 


21 


All  over  this  blue  ocean  of  mountains 
families  inhabit  homes,  from  the  hum- 
blest cabin  in  the  most  secluded  and  lone- 
ly cove  to  the  beautiful  cottages  of  the 
well-to-do  in  the  teeming  valleys  and 
villages  along  the  highway,  where  at 
night  the  doors  are  left  unlocked,  and; 
if  it  be  summer,  they  are  left  wide  open 
and  no  thought  ever  enters  the  minds  of 
the  unsuspecting  inmates  of  the  slightest 
molestation.  If  there  is  a knock  or  call 
at  midnight  it  comes  from  a neighbor  for 
help  in  sickness  or  from  a belated  traveler, 
and  neither  is  turned  away  disappointed. 

Human  sympathy  and  personal  help- 
fulness are  as  natural  to  the  mountaineer 
as  the  ozone  of  the  balsam  which  inspires 
his  existence,  and  to  this  rule  there  are 
no  exceptions.  If  there  are  any  they  are 
not  known,  and  no  one  has  yet  had  the 
courage  to  institute  a search. 

The  moonshiner,  along  with  the  mon- 
eyed cattleman,  or  lumberman  or  land 
speculator,  will  divide  his  last  crust  with  a 
tired  and  hungry  guest.  And  we  mean  no 
compliment  to  the  moonshiner’s  trade. 


22  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


As  we  have  intimated  already,  a land 
like  this  is  not  proof  against  the  machina- 
tions and  intrusions  of  the  ghost  of  sin 
and  crime;  but,  like  the  wolf  who  used 
to  infest  these  same  deep  forests,  these 
evil  beings  are  doomed  to  go.  Wolves 
become  extinct  when  the  dismal  brake 
and  fen  are  replaced  by  sun  and  refresh- 
ing showers  and  human  habitants,  and 
no  deathdealing  knave  of  a human  can 
long  survive  when  enlightened  justice 
catches  up  with  him. 

It  is  the  distinction  of  our  civilization 
that  justice  is  ever  tempered  with  mercy, 
though  that  divine  mistress  mete  it  out 
with  bowed  head  and  streaming  eyes. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Spirit  of  Crime 

The  fairest  and  most  perfect  spots  of 
God’s  beautiful  Earth  bear  the  marks  of 
the  monster  of  evil.  When  the  race  of 
man  was  in  its  infancy,  before  land,  sea 
and  sky  had  yielded  up  so  many  of  their 
mysteries,  and  when  the  mind  of  man  was 
neither  wise  nor  cunning;  when  the  physi- 
cal man  was  full  grown  and,  like  the  curious 
infant,  toddled  about  open-eyed  and 
wide-mouthed — seeing,  hearing,  touch- 
ing and  tasting  everything  in  sight — 
that  sly  creature  we  call  sin,  for  want  of 
its  real  name,  had  already  attained  its 
full  length  and  visage.  Its  eyes  were 
as  wicked  in  their  ebon  glitter  and  its 
motions  were  as  portentous  and  heart- 
chilling  as  they  are  today.  Its  charm 
was  as  alluring,  irresistible  and  deadly  as 
ever. 

No  man  knows  or  shall  know  how  this 
hideous  thing  came  into  the  life  of  man. 
No  philosopher  nor  scientist,  no  seer  nor 


24r  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


prophet,  has  yet  been  able  to  solve  the 
enigma  of  sin.  Not  even  a Milton  or  a 
Kant  has  possessed  the  wisdom  and  imag- 
ination to  satisfy  the  deep  demands  of 
human  curiosity  with  regard  to  this  one 
subtle  subject. 

Men  profoundly  versed  in  things  oc- 
cult, things  which  appear  like  phantoms 
on  the  edge  of  things  known,  have  not 
been  ready  with  a satisfactory  answer  to 
this  perennial  problem.  Men  such  as  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  and  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle 
are  contributing  the  mature  abilities  of 
ripened  scholarship,  and  each  a personal 
character  beyond  reproach,  to  the  inves- 
tigation of  kindred  subjects  in  the  realm 
of  spirit.  There  are  those  who  say  that 
these  savants  are  treading  on  forbidden 
ground;  that  beyond  the  confines  of  the 
known  men,  however  wise  and  good, 
have  no  business  to  adventure. 

God,  the  fountain  of  all  wisdom,  did 
He  establish  the  bounds  of  investigation? 
Would  He  circumscribe  the  activities  of 
the  only  faculty  of  man  that  bears 


The  Spirit  of  Crime 


25 


affinity  to  and  presents  the  divine  image 
— the  human  mind? 

And  yet  with  all  the  speculation  of 
genius,  with  all  the  sublime  revelation  of 
prophecy,  the  mystery  of  the  ages  remains ; 
What  is  sin  and  where  did  it  originate? 
It  is  one  of  the  question  marks  of  deity 
written  away  back  on  the  misty  walls  of 
eternity.  There  hasn’t  yet  been,  nor 
shall  be,  a more  satisfactory  history  given 
of  the  satanic  principle  than  the  one  to 
be  found  in  Genesis  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
The  most  profound  of  human  intellects 
has  never  been  inspired  enough  to  im- 
prove upon  the  theory — the  truth — of  the 
Edenic  perfection  and  subsequent  fall  of 
man. 

And  yet  the  better  nature  of  the  human 
kind  continues  to  shudder  and  sigh  when 
the  ghost  of  sin  shambles  into  view  and 
smites  with  the  bony  hand  of  death. 
The  echo  of  the  blow  of  sin  upon  the  head 
of  innocence  always  comes  with  a shock. 
The  finer  sensibilities,  the  nobler  impulses 
recoil  as  from  the  discovery  of  some  hid- 
den reptile.  A normal  human  being 


26  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


could  never  work  himself  down  to  the 
point  where  he  would  deliberately  dis- 
miss his  better  self  and,  yielding  for  the 
moment  to  the  arch  enemy  of  man,  do 
the  deed  which  in  misery  should  destroy 
a soul  and  cry  to  heaven. 

But  in  the  most  forlorn  and  abandoned 
character  there  exists  the  consciousness 
of  wrong  in  the  act  of  premeditation  and 
performance.  It  is  passing  strange  how 
that,  in  a being  susceptible  of  the  most 
shameless  and  unspeakable  crime,  his 
every  act  betrays  a depraved  accusative 
of  guilt.  This  is  not  so  much  a feeling  of 
wrong  in  the  heart  as  of  fear  of  the  con- 
sequences of  the  act. 

As  Nancy  Kerlee  bore  in  her  ghoulish 
arms  the  tender  form  and  unsuspecting 
soul  of  the  two-year-old  little  Roberta 
Putnam,  what  must  have  been  the  emo- 
tions, if  any,  of  that  poor  hadesian  hag? 
If  she  is  to  be  judged  by  her  act,  there  was 
little  agitation  of  feeling — only  the  cold 
calculation  of  destruction  and  conceal- 
ment. If  the  murderess  moved  except 
toward  the  goal  of  her  purpose  it  was 


The  Spirit  of  Crime 


27 


from  the  dread  of  human  detection,  and 
not  primarily  from  the  dread  of  discovery 
by  that  all-seeing  Eye  who  reads  the 
innermost  secret  and  intent  of  the  heart. 

In  the  calm  forests  of  the  beautiful 
Dellwood  section  there  stalked  that  cool 
day  in  February,  1913,  the  spirit  of 
crime,  the  heartless  perpetrator  of  the 
most  fiendish  child-murder  committed 
in  the  record  of  the  courts  in  a State  dis- 
tinguished for  the  minimum  of  crime 
among  civilized  communities. 

Even  the  trees  that  looked  down  on 
the  uncertain  trail  of  the  serpent  that 
day,  as  she  wound  her  way  to  the  lonely 
granite  cave,  must  have  bowed  their 
majestic  forms  with  drooping  limbs;  the 
raven  must  have  maintained  the  silence 
of  the  grave  as  she  noislessly  sailed 
toward  her  lonely  home  in  the  cliff;  and 
even  inanimate  nature  assumed  the  grim 
aspect  of  death.  If  a twig  broke  beneath 
her  shambling  feet,  if  a leaf  rustled  above 
her  witches’  head,  the  remains  of  a human 
soul  must  have  quaked  within  her  un- 
natural breast.  And  how  must  that 


28  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


dingy  soul  have  lived  as,  with  woman’s 
eyes,  it  looked  into  the  face  and  baby- 
girl  infant  innocence  and  trust?  If  hers 
were  the  miserly  remains  of  the  remotest 
maternal  instincts,  how  her  stony  heart 
must  have  stopped  beating  and  the  ghost 
of  crime  been  given  up! 

Did  Nancy  Kerlee  actually  feel  the 
immanence  of  herself  and  all  which  trans- 
pired that  day  of  horror?  She  possessed 
mind  enough  to  plan  and  premeditate; 
to  scheme  and  lie  to  purpose;  to  choose  a 
granite  cave  instead  of  an  earthen  grave; 
to  leave  the  babe  to  a slow  and  torturing 
death  rather  than  spill  sudden  blood  with 
its  proverbial  tale  of  foulness  and  guilt. 

Nowhere  do  we  find  the  least  act  or 
circumstance  to  mitigate  her  crime. 
Little  was  done  by  her  at  any  step  to 
indicate  hers  as  the  work  of  a shallow 
and  incoherent  mind  or  a weak  and  vacil- 
lating will.  Nowhere  do  we  have  evi- 
dence of  the  breaking  to  pieces  of  the 
emotions,  which  is  a characteristic  of 
the  female  under  great  tension,  or  of  the 
tacit  divulgence  as  the  effects  of  remorse. 


The  Spirit  of  Crime 


29 


And  the  victim-baby,  Roberta,  did  she 
ever  touch  with  tiny  fingers  or  invite 
with  beseeching  looks  the  cold  sympathy 
of  the  murderess? 

That  the  little  girl  felt  the  very  pres- 
ence of  evil  there  can  be  no  cavil.  Animals 
feel  the  nearness  of  personal  danger. 
Even  so  small  and  revolting  a creature 
as  the  spider,  when  he  sees  and  hears  the 
footfall  of  man,  will  run  for  his  life,  and 
if  that  huge  foot  touch  him  rudely,  he 
will  roll  himself  into  a little  black  ball 
and  feign  to  be  dead.  Yes,  little  Roberta 
Putnam  felt  the  choking  closeness  of 
something  that  day,  but  she,  doubtless, 
had  no  suspicion  of  the  creature  that 
bore  her  in  its  wicked  embrace. 

Did  Nancy  Kerlee  attempt  to  return 
in  kind  the  inquiring,  anxious  look  of 
her  baby- victim?  When  the  perturbed 
child  whimpered  its  disquietude  did  the 
old  woman,  who  was  once  a child  herself, 
answer  soothingly  with  the  croon  of 
mother-love  lingering  on  her  accent?  And 
the  answer  comes  back  with  the  centuries’ 


30  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


pent-up  instincts  of  mother — Never! 
Never! 

And  now  they  approach  the  fateful 
granite  tomb  in  the  lonely  hillside.  None 
but  God  will  ever  conceive  the  real  pic- 
ture of  that  performance.  It  is  one  of  the 
outstanding  tragedies  of  history.  Doyle, 
in  Sherlock  Holmes,  never  invented  a 
crime  more  hideous  in  its  primal  elements. 
William  James  never  analyzed  a human 
brain  that  afforded  so  queer  and  inter- 
esting a psychological  study.  In  simple 
though  shrewd  elementary  concept  and 
sheer  wickedness  of  execution  it  is  unique 
and  most  assuredly  in  a class  by  itself. 

And  now  the  murderess  pushes  the 
child  into  a jagged  hole  in  the  granite 
cave,  just  large  enough  for  the  child  in 
her  delirious  grief  and  rage  to  free  her- 
self, to  beat  her  body  against  its  sharp 
walls.  Thus  deposited,  she  fastens  it  by 
laying  heavy  stones  on  its  skirts  until  she 
can  fill  the  entire  opening  with  stones; 
and,  thus  with  its  limbs  free,  alive  and  in 
health,  she  deliberately  walks  away  and 
leaves  the  child  to  the  mortal  horrors  of 


An  Earthly  Eden 


31 


a lingering  death  by  starvation  and  ever- 
repeating  self-inflicted  wounds. 

No  one  will  ever  know  just  the  motive, 
if  any,  besides  blood,  an  innate  thirst  for 
blood,  exactly  what  was  the  prompting 
motive  of  that  ghost  known  as  Nancy 
Kerlee.  No  one  can  ever  know  just  the 
thing  that  killed  little  Roberta  Putnam, 
whether  it  was  the  bumps,  or  the  cold, 
or  starvation.  More  likely  it  was  a con- 
spiracy of  all  three.  But  one  thing  we 
know,  and  that  is  that  the  evil  one 
possessed  the  instrument  of  that  un- 
speakable crime,  and  that  the  Good 
Shepherd  must  have  tempered  the  winds 
to  the  shorn  lamb.  And  that  after  all, 
and  through  it  all,  the  murderess  bore 
the  sacred  form  of  woman. 


CHAPTER  III 


In  Woman’s  Form 

It  was  on  or  about  the  twenty-sixth 
day  of  February,  1913,  that  Nancy 
Kerlee,  nee  Nancy  Coonrod,  of  Cata- 
loochee  in  Haywood  County,  incarcer- 
ated her  two-year-old  granddaughter  in 
a granite  cave  on  the  Ad  Tate  Knob, 
near  Dellwood. 

The  meager  facts  relative  to  the  crime, 
according  to  the  Waynesville  Courier , 
are  as  follows: 

“About  a month  ago  Nancy  Kerlee 
returned  to  this  county  from  Tennessee 
and  brought  with  her  her  two  grand- 
children (the  murdered  child  being  the 
smaller),  to  their  mother,  Mrs.  Will 
Putnam,  who  is  living  on  the  Garrett 
farm  two  and  one-half  miles  below  Dell- 
wood, with  her  father-in-law,  Joseph 
Putnam.  The  mother  said  that  she  and 
her  husband  were  unable  to  care  for  both 
the  children,  whereupon  the  grandmother, 
Nancy  Kerlee,  said  she  would  take  the 


In  Woman’s  Form 


33 


youngest  child  to  the  county  home, 
which  is  about  eighteen  miles  east  of 
Dellwood.  The  next  morning  she  started 
with  the  child  across  the  Utah  Moun- 
tain for  the  county  home.  She  returned 
in  about  five  hours,  telling  Mrs.  Will 
Putnam  that  she  had  given  the  child  to 
Rev.  Fincher,  that  the  little  girl  would 
be  well  cared  for,  and  that  she  need  not 
worry  about  the  child. 

“Later  Nancy  Kerlee  began  telling 
conflicting  tales  which  soon  created  sus- 
picion among  the  people  of  that  section. 
Soon  the  ’phone  lines  were  busy  over 
the  county.  The  county  home  was  called 
up  and  no  child  had  been  received  at 
that  institution.  Rev.  Fincher  said  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  affair  and  had  not 
seen  a woman  and  child  of  that  descrip- 
tion. Nancy  Kerlee  was  then  arrested 
by  Deputy  Sheriff  Jack  Carver  and  lodged 
in  the  county  jail. 

“After  the  preliminary  hearing  the  de- 
fendant was  held  to  answer  the  charge  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree  in  the  Superior 
3 


34  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


Court  of  Haywood.  Details  of  the  finding 
of  the  little  body  are  too  revolting  to  give 
in  full.  The  flesh  was  decomposed,  de- 
tached hair  and  blood  were  found  on  the 
rocks.  The  little  one  had  evidently 
made  frantic  efforts  to  escape.  Being 
finally  overcome  by  hunger,  cold  and  ex- 
haustion, she  fell  upon  her  face  and  died. 
In  this  position  they  found  her  in  the 
rocky  cave  on  the  mountain  side,  the 
entrance  to  which  had  been  closed  by 
heavy  stones  brought  from  the  immediate 
vicinity.  The  little  girl  was  about  two 
years  old.” 

When  the  news  of  the  crime  spread 
over  the  borders  of  peace-loving  Haywood 
deep  and  intense  were  the  feelings  of  the 
people.  The  love  of  life  and  sympathy 
for  the  helpless,  which  are  leading  traits 
in  the  descendants  of  the  auld  sod,  of 
the  distant  national  scions  of  Bruce  and 
Wallace,  rose  once  more  to  white  heat, 
and  men,  women  and  children  were  al- 
most ready  to  become  the  instruments 
of  that  bewildered  passsion  which  some- 


In  Woman’s  Form 


35 


times  dares  not  start,  for  fear  of  knowing 
not  where  to  stop.  A deed  had  been 
done  that  would  have  attracted  but 
casual  notice  except  by  the  officers  of  the 
law  in  a great  city  where  crime  was  com- 
mon, but  here  in  freedom’s  height,  it 
was  the  remark  and  business  of  all. 

Forever  be  it  remembered  that  never 
so  long  as  the  untainted  sons  of  the 
genuine  mountaineer  live  and  breathe 
the  pure  air  of  their  native  heath  can 
anarchy  and  murder  lift  their  bloody 
hands. 

And  so  Nancy  Kerlee  was  arrested  and 
lodged  in  jail  without  the  privilege  of 
bond.  The  people  from  far  and  near 
came  to  look  upon  the  form  and  into  the 
eye  of  a human  that  could  do  the  diabol- 
ism with  which  the  State  had  charged 
her. 

To  their  many  questions,  there  came 
no  answer  but  the  answer  of  a silence 
ominous  as  the  grave.  Time  rushed  on 
as  upon  the  wings  of  some  besom  of  blood- 
guiltiness,  some  mazeppa  of  certain  and 
swift  conviction. 


36  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


A venire  was  summoned  at  the  July 
term  of  ,the  Superior  Court  of  1913,  and 
a jury  could  not  be  found  from  the  body 
of  the  good  citizens  of  Haywood  to  sit 
upon  the  case,  for  the  significant  reason 
that  they  stated  to  the  court  that  they 
had  formed  and  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  was  guilty. 

The  case  was,  therefore,  moved  to  the 
county  of  Swain,  with  Jackson  lying 
between,  and  there  the  attorneys  for 
the  defendant  pleaded  their  client  guilty 
of  murder  in  the  second  degree,  and 
Nancy  Kerlee,  at  about  the  age  of  sixty, 
was  sentenced  to  the  Penitentiary  for 
thirty  years. 

There  are  places  in  Christendom  where, 
the  morning  after  the  crime  was  discover- 
ed, the  murderess  would  have  been  dis- 
posed of  “without  benefit  of  clergy/”  but 
not  so  with  the  law-abiding,  Christian 
citizenship  of  Haywood. 

And  there  is  another  phase  to  the  case: 
the  men  of  Haywood,  the  men  of  the 
mountains,  in  the  grounded  essentials  of 


In  Woman's  Form 


37 


benevolence  and  chivalry,  are  the  equals 
of  Chesterfield  or  Walter  Raleigh  in  the 
nobler  relations  to  womankind.  A simple 
dress,  if  it  be  a skirt  and  ever  so  plain 
and  homely,  is  a sure  shield  from  mas- 
culine barbarity.  This,  and  this  truly, 
had  something  to  do  with  the  legal  fate 
of  the  vile  and  unfortunate  wretch, 
Nancy  Kerlee. 

For  ten  long  years  she  has  washed  and 
patched  in  the  State’s  Prison  at  Raleigh. 
To  her,  patching  should  constitute  a 
congenial  occupation.  To  her  unholy 
existence  there  is  no  well-rounded  circle, 
no  semblance  of  wholesome  or  pleasing 
suggestiveness. 

Her  mind  is  either  dead  to  all  that’s 
beautiful  and  innocent  and  good,  or 
beset  with  the  smothering  of  the  night- 
mare. Her  soul — the  little  that  is  left 
in  her — is  torn  to  tatters  by  the  iron 
claws  of  bitter  remorse,  or  else  she  be 
beast  and  not  human. 

For  such  an  one  is  there  no  repentance, 
no  earthly  retribution,  no  infinite  mercy, 


38  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


no  wash-day  of  the  soul,  no  patching  of 
the  torn  and  broken  heart?  Indeed  to 
our  finite  minds  it  doesn’t  seem  so,  but 
He  who  makes  note  of  the  sparrow’s 
death  and  numbers  the  hairs  of  one’s 
head — He  knows! 

Though  gnarled  and  twisted  and 
broken,  it  was  the  form  of  a woman. 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  Valuable  Citizen 

There  is  very  much  in  inheritance. 
Blood  is  thicker  than  water.  A man  is 
largely  the  moral  image  and  reflection  of 
his  mother.  Good  citizenship  depends 
to  a very  large  extent  upon  the  inherit- 
ance and  training  from  the  mother  and 
the  example  and  discipline  of  the  father. 
A boy  does  the  more  serious  things  be- 
cause his  mother-instincts  impel  him  and 
the  example  and  rulership  of  the  father 
impel  him. 

Some  observant  man  has  remarked 
that  in  order  to  produce  a good  man  one 
must  begin  the  job  generations  before 
he  is  born.  This  emphasizes  the  im- 
portance of  making  blood  through  the 
processes  of  education.  It  applies  to  the 
lower  animals,  this  law  of  selection  and 
development.  It  has  become  a truism 
from  actual  experiment. 


40  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


Next  to  this  law,  in  the  man,  come  the 
laws  of  education  and  development. 
Next  to  the  effects  of  the  primary  law  of 
blood,  a man  is  what  he  is  from  teaching 
and  the  influence  of  his  associates.  Given 
a good  mother,  a decent  father,  right 
training,  proper  associates,  a worthy 
ancestry — and  you  need  search  no  fur- 
ther— you  will  have  a good  citizen.  This 
rule  is  as  sure  and  fixed  as  the  laws  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians. 

The  moral  nature  and  that  high-toned, 
sensitive  principle  in  a man  or  woman 
come  by  way  of  all  these  Christian  in- 
fluences and  are  exhibited  mainly  through 
the  mother.  But  for  the  sake  of  em- 
phasis, be  it  borne  in  mind  that  education 
and  surroundings  wrought  upon  the 
mother  through  the  generations  produce 
quality  in  blood  and  character  in  the 
individual.  Mother  influence  is,  there- 
fore, the  mightiest  influence  in  this  world. 
The  boy  loves  his  mother  as  he  loves  no 
other  being  in  the  universe.  This  love 
is  instinctive.  He  knows  how  he  came 


The  V aluable  Citizen 


41 


by  his  being  and  who  brought  him  into 
this  beautiful  world,  and  by  what  un- 
speakable pain  and  sacrifice.  He  will 
listen  to  her  counsel  and  obey  her  pre- 
cepts when  he  would  turn  a deaf  ear  to 
every  other.  The  Spartan  mother  taught 
her  son  courage  and  patriotism.  The 
Spartan  in  life  was  the  incarnation  of 
these  elements,  and  to  this  day  when  one 
would  refer  to  the  loftiest  type  of  courage 
and  patriotism,  they  are  called  Spartan. 

But  there  are  two  sorts  of  education 
and  environment — good  and  bad.  It  is 
of  vast  importance,  then,  that  the  mothers 
of  our  land  in  their  earliest  training,  have 
good  surroundings  and  good  associates 
so  that  when  they  bring  sons  into  the 
world  they  may  dower  them  with  all 
that  is  best  in  human  nature.  The  object 
of  the  primary  training  should  be  the 
heart,  the  seat  of  the  affections  and  con- 
secrated to  all  that  is  noble  and  good. 

A man  may  be  a demigod  intellectually 
and  a dwarf  morally;  for  example,  Sir 
Francis  Bacon,  and  many  others.  It  is, 


42  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


therefore,  of  equal  importance  that  in 
addition  to  the  condition  of  inheritance, 
the  mother  begin  with  her  little  child 
when  he  is  born  to  make  him  a good 
citizen  when  grown  to  adulthood,  and 
to  dedicate  him  not  only  to  courage  and 
patriotism,  but  to  Christianity  and  a 
clean  life.  She  should  inculcate  in  him 
these  fundamentals  of  life,  namely,  to 
love  and  to  forgive,  to  obey  and  do  good 
for  evil:  never  losing  sight  of  the  basic 
teaching  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  that 
love  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  universe — 
the  supreme  good — and  that  every  poor 
mortal  is  a failure  who  does  not  feel  his 
being  thrilled  with  that  saving  principle. 

A man  can  not  be  a good  citizen  and 
harbor  hate,  or  malice,  or  envy,  or  any 
of  those  fiery  elements  in  his  heart.  He 
is  not  a good  man  who  despises  his 
neighbor.  If  a man  inveighs  against  his 
fellow  directly  or  indirectly,  publicly  or 
privately,  he  is  an  undesirable  member 
of  society  and  a dead  weight  to  his  better 
self.  And  there  is  no  method  by  which 


The  V aluahle  Citizen 


43 


to  separate  the  social,  political  and  moral 
realms,  so  that  we  may  move  in  one  and 
not  be  influenced  by  the  other. 

The  mother,  then,  should  not  be  con- 
tent to  teach  her  son — the  future  citizen 
— the  abstract  principles  of  morality. 
She  should  not  teach  on  Sunday  the  whole- 
some tenets  of  the  catechism  simply 
because  her  mother  taught  them  to  her 
and  her  brothers,  perpetuating  a sort  of 
dogmatic,  traditional,  theological  kinder- 
garten. She  should  teach  her  boy  practi- 
cal lessons  of  honor,  honesty,  truthfulness 
and  square  dealing;  all  of  which  are  con- 
sistent with  the  New  Testament  and  the 
orthodox  Christian  plan  of  salvation  as 
developed  therein. 

All  men  were  once  boys,  and  the  wise 
ones  know  what  the  boy  needs — the 
manly,  promising,  red-blooded  boy — he 
needs  to  imbibe  from  his  mother,  (and 
he  never  should  get  too  big  to  level 
himself  with  his  mother’s  knee)  a charac- 
ter which  would  ever  place  him  on  his 
best  behavior,  compelling  him,  in  con- 
scious pride,  to  be  honest,  self  respecting, 


44  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


just,  charitable,  sober,  clean,  upright, 
pure  in  personal  habits,  a lover  of  right- 
eousness and  peace,  venerating  the  real 
heroes  of  his  country’s  past;  to  revere 
her  traditions,  to  uphold,  protect  and 
defend  his  fireside,  his  neighborhood,  his 
county,  his  state  and  common  country. 
This  is  the  valuable  citizen — civilization’s 
finest  achievement. 


CHAPTER  V 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver 

It  is  nearly  a hundred — to  be  exact, 
ninety-one — years  since  Frances  Silver 
committed  the  crime  below  chronicled 
and  for  which  she  paid  the  legal  forfeit 
of  her  life. 

As  intimated  previously  in  this  little 
book,  the  two  cases  are  herein  recorded 
on  account  of  their  unusual  character 
as  crimes  and  that  both  perpetrators 
were  women.  Frances  Silver  satisfied 
justice  and  paid  the  penalty  of  her  act 
on  the  scaffold,  and  Nancy  Kerlee  is  still 
serving  a thirty  years  sentence  in  the 
State’s  Prison^’ 

Is  there  any  significance  in  the  fact 
that  Nancy  Kerlee  who  committed,  if 
could  be,  a more  heinous  crime  than 
Frances  Silver,  and  tried  by  a jury  of  her 
peers  and  fellow-citizens  of  a century 
since — the  same  as  Nancy  Kerlee  except 
that  the  latter  was  moved  to  an  adjoin- 
ing county — while  Mrs.  Silver  was  ex- 


46  Serpent  Slips  into  Alodern  Eden 


ecuted  and  Mrs.  Kerlee  was  awarded  her 
life  and  thirty  years  in  prison. 

Were  the  differing  results  in  these  cases 
due  to  professional  management,  or  to 
modification  of  the  practice  of  the  courts, 
or  to  a changed  attitude  of  society 
toward  crime  and  its  punishment;  or  to 
neither,  but  simply  to  the  existing  cir- 
cumstances of  each  case,  or  to  the  series 
of  coincidences  which  arise  in  the  course 
of  court  procedure  and  the  hurly-burly 
of  the  hour? 

It  is  the  humble,  unprofessional  opinion 
of  the  writer  that  the  courts  of  North 
Carolina  of  a hundred  years  ago  were 
more  stoic  and  grim  in  the  punishment 
of  crime  than  they  are  at  the  present. 
Justice  was  totally  blind  and  she  held 
the  scales  with  a tighter  grip  and  her 
square  jaw  had  a tighter  set,  mayhap. 
The  very  fact  that  the  number  of  felo- 
nious crimes  has  been  curtailed  until 
from  scores  a hundred  and  more  years 
since,  they  have  been  reduced  to  less 
than  the  digits. on  one  hand. 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  47 


But  be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains 
that  the  crimes  with  which  these  two 
unfortunates  were  accused  and  proven 
guilty  were  in  a class  by  themselves; 
especially  that  of  Nancy  Kerlee  as  un- 
matched since  the  ancient  Spartans  used 
to  take  their  babes  imperfect-born,  physi- 
cally defective,  to  the  woods  and  leave 
them  to  die  of  neglect.  But  that  was 
slightly  to  be  overlooked  for  they  were 
heathen,  semi-barbarian,  and  the  horrid 
practice  was  winked  at  by  the  state. 

Then  there  is  interesting  study  in  the 
psychology  of  the  two  cases — both  the 
women  and  their  crimes.  The  crime  of 
Frances  Silver  found  kindly  soil  in  the 
green-eyed  monster,  jealousy.  As  she 
awaited  in  her  prison  cell  the  day  of 
execution  she  wrote  poetry  in  the  form 
of  self-pityng,  self-commiserating,  self- 
indicting  doggerel;  but  it  is  not  hard  to 
detect  the  vein  of  nauseating  hypocrisy 
that  runs  the  gamut  of  the  whole  sicken- 
ing performance. 

The  wellspring,  the  prompting  motive 
of  the  deed  of  Nancy  Kerlee  is  not  nearly 


48  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


so  easy  of  detection.  But  in  the  last 
analysis  it  seems  to  have  been  a false  and 
diabolical  conception  of  the  most  rudi- 
mentary responsibility  of  life  in  mother- 
hood combined  with  a hellish  mania  for 
child-murder. 

And  so  with  her  reaction  to  the  mother- 
instincts.  No  comment.  No  confession. 
No  remorse.  Nothing  dimly  related  to 
natural  feeling.  Nothing  but  the  ac- 
cusing death-silence  of  the  four  dumb 
walls  of  the  prison  cell. 

In  Frances  Silver  there  is  the  voicing 
of  a shilly-shally  fear  of  the  future.  In 
Nancy  Kerlee  there  is  no  such  thing.  In 
the  act  of  her  murder,  as  the  streams  of 
consciousness  continued  to  flow,  there 
was  not  the  slightest  sigh  of  disturbance. 

The  following  is  the  story  of  Frances 
Silver’s  crime  as  printed  by  the  Waynes- 
ville  Courier  some  years  ago,  and  taken 
by  it  from  an  old  clipping  of  some  local 
paper  handed  the  Courier  editor. 

“When  the  Nancy  Kerlee  trial  was 
the  topic  of  conversation  in  this,  Hay- 
wood, County  recently,  there  was  much 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  49 


speculation  as  to  whether  her  conviction 
would  mean  the  carrying  out  of  the 
death  sentence;  many  contending  that 
Governor  Craig  would  not  allow  a woman 
to  be  electrocuted.  The  question  also 
came  up  then  as  to  whether  a woman  had 
ever  been  hanged  in  North  Carolina;  and 
if  so,  who  and  where.  The  following 
story,  taken  from  an  old  paper  given  to 
the  Courier  by  one  of  its  subscribers, 
gives  account  of  a murder  by  a woman  in 
one  of  the  near-by  counties  and  of  her 
being  hanged  for  the  crime: 

“One  of  the  most  brutal  murders  ever 
committed  in  North  Carolina  was  con- 
ceived, planned  and  executed  by  a woman, 
one  Frances  Silver  of  Burke  County, 
who  killed  and  burned  her  husband, 
Charles  Silver.  The  crime,  says  H.  E.  C. 
Bryant,  in  the  Charlotte  Observer , 
was  done  one  night  seventy  years  ago 
(that  was  twenty-one  years  ago  now)  in 
a lonely  mountain  cabin,  on  Toe  River, 
in  the  presence  of  a two-year-old  child, 
while  the  victim  lay  asleep  by  his  own 
fireside.  The  murderess  was  tried,  con- 
4 


50  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


victed  and  hanged,  being  one  of  the  first 
women  executed  on  the  gallows  in  this 
country. 

“Mr.  Alfred  Silver,  half-brother  of 
the  murdered  man,  is  living  today  on 
Curtis  Creek,  four  miles  northwest  of 
the  town  of  Old  Fort,  McDowell  County. 
He  will  be  eighty-seven  years  old  the 
fifteenth  of  November.  I went  to  see 
Mr.  Silver  one  morning  last  week.  He 
is  the  finest  type  of  the  best  class  of 
mountaineers  that  ever  I saw,  being 
large,  strong-featured  and  manly.  His 
face  looks  like  the  pictures  of  the  old 
patriarchs  as  they  appear  in  the  histories. 
I found  him  willing  and  able  to  talk 
about  the  murder,  the  trial  and  hanging. 
He  remembers  the  details  of  the  case  as 
well  as  if  the  crime  had  been  perpetrated 
last  month.  At  the  time  of  the  deed  he 
was  just  at  the  tender  age  when  a bright 
mind  takes  and  retains  most  and  best 

“In  giving  the  story  of  the  affair,  I 
shall  let  him  tell  it  in  his  own  vigorous, 
forceful  way: 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  51 


“ ‘Charles  Silver,  who  was  killed  and 
destroyed  by  his  wife,  Frances  Silver, 
about  the  year  1832,  was  my  half-brother. 
He  was  strong,  healthy,  good-looking 
and  agreeable.  He  had  lots  of  friends. 
Everybody  liked  him.  He  was  a favorite 
at  all  the  parties  because  he  could  make 
merry  by  talking,  laughing  and  playing 
musical  instruments.  He  had  been  mar- 
ried long  enough  to  have  one  heir,  a 
little  girl.  He  lived  in  a cabin  across  a 
ridge  a quarter  of  a mile  from  my  father’s 
home  on  Toe  River. 

“ ‘Charles  was  pretty  much  of  a hunt- 
er, and  it  was  Christmas,  just  his  time 
for  hunting.  The  ground  was  covered 
with  snow  and  the  river  frozen  hard. 
His  wife,  contending  that  he  would  be 
off  soon  on  a hunt,  urged  him  to  cut 
enough  wood  to  do  all  the  week.  He  fell 
in  with  his  ax  and  cut  up  a whole  hickory 
tree,  and  shocked  it  so  that  it  would  keep 
dry  and  clean.  Being  tired  and  sleepy 
after  the  labor  of  chopping,  my  brother 
lay  down  on  the  floor,  close  by  the  fire, 
with  his  little  girl  in  his  arms,  and  went 


52  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


to  sleep.  His  head  rested  on  an  inverted 
stool  for  a pillow.  Frances  gently  took 
the  baby  from  his  breast,  put  it  in  the 
bed,  picked  up  the  ax  from  the  door, 
where  she  had  placed  it  for  the  purpose, 
and  whacked  his  head  nearly  off  at  a 
single  blow.  She  intended  to  cut  it 
clean  off,  but  miscalculated  and  either 
stood  too  close  or  too  far  away. 

“ ‘The  first  lick  did  not  kill  him  in- 
stantly for  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried: 
“God  bless  the  child.”  His  wife  fled  to 
the  bed  and  covered  up  till  she  heard 
Charles  fall,  and  then  jumped  out  and 
finished  the  job  with  a second  blow. 
But  the  most  inhuman  part  of  the  atro- 
cious deed  was  to  come.  The  woman 
went  to  work,  cut  the  body  into  small 
pieces  and  burned  it  bit  by  bit,  the  en- 
tire night  and  much  wood  being  consumed 
in  destroying  the  body.  The  dog  house 
and  the  door  steps  went  up  in  the  effort 
to  keep  a roaring  fire.  It  is  believed 
that  her  mother  and  youngest  brother 
helped  to  dispose  of  the  body.  In  fact 
she  confessed  as  much  to  a woman  who 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  53 


called  on  her  in  jail.  I believe  the  killing 
was  a conspiracy  entered  into  by  the 
whole  Stewart  family. 

“ ‘Of  course  we  knew  nothing  of  the 
crime  at  my  father’s  house.  Frances 
came  early  the  next  morning,  stopped 
where  my  mother  and  the  girls  were 
washing  for  Christmas  and  remarked: 
“You  are  hard  at  it  early.”  My  mother 
said  “Yes.”  Frances  replied:  “I’ve  been 
at  it  myself  ever  since  before  day.” 
She  told  mother  that  Charles  had  gone 
up  the  river  to  George  Young’s.  That 
same  evening  Frances  came  over  and 
reported  that  Charles  had  not  returned. 
She  said  she  had  expected  him  back 
earlier.  Mother  noticed  that  she  was  a 
bit  nervous,  but  thought  it  was  on  account 
of  the  prolonged  absence  of  Charles. 
She  said  she  would  go  down  to  her 
father’s  home,  three-quarters  of  a mile 
away,  if  some  of  the  boys  would  attend 
to  the  feeding  of  the  cow,  explaining 
that  Charles  had  fed  her  that  morning; 
but  when  we  went  there  that  night  we 
saw  none  but  woman’s  tracks. 


54  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


“ ‘Charles  didn’t  show  up  the  next 
day  nor  the  one  following.  Frances  told 
mother  that  as  he  had  remained  away 
so  long  she  did  not  care  whether  he  ever 
came  back  or  not,  and  went  back  to  her 
father’s. 

“ ‘After  several  days  had  passed  and 
nothing  had  been  heard  of  Charles,  the 
alarm  was  given.  The  word  was  put  out 
all  through  the  mountains.  No  track  or 
trace  of  him  could  be  found.  The  river  was 
searched,  for  some  thought  that  he  might 
have  gone  through  the  ice.  He  had  not 
been  to  George  Young’s.  My  father  was 
greatly  stirred  up  about  it.  He  was 
ready  to  do  anything,  so  when  he  heard 
of  an  old  Guinea  negro  over  in  Tennessee 
forty  miles  away,  who  had  a kind  of 
conjure  ball  that  told  things,  he  set  out 
on  horseback  to  see  him.  The  negro  was 
not  at  home,  but  the  man,  a Mr.  Williams, 
for  whom  he  worked,  said  he  could  in- 
terpret the  behavior  of  the  ball.  He 
hung  the  ball  up  like  a pendulum  and 
marked  off  the  points  of  the  compass. 
Father  told  Williams  all  about  the  location 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  55 


of  the  house  where  Charles  lived  and 
drew  a map  of  the  section  round  about. 
The  ball  didn’t  seem  to  point  away  from 
the  house  and  Williams  asked:  “Wasn’t 
it  possible  that  the  man  was  done  away 
with  at  home?”  Father  said  it  was  im- 
possible for  if  Frances  had  desired  to  do 
so,  she  could  not  have  killed  him  and  hid 
his  body.  Williams  finally  said:  “Well, 
his  kindred.  That  was  towards  his 
own  house  from  ours.  Later  in  the  day 
Williams  tried  his  ball  and  told  father 
that  it  indicated  that  the  body  had  been 
found.  Sure  enough  it  was. 

“ ‘On  the  very  day  that  father  started 
for  Tennessee  the  mystery  was  partially 
solved.  Some  one  of  the  searching  party 
suggested  that  the  house  and  premises  be 
examined.  An  old  man  by  the  name  of 
Jack  Collis  thought  it  wise  to  look  around 
in  the  house.  He  went  about  the  yard 
and  cabin,  probing  with  a walking  cane. 
In  stirring  the  ashes  in  the  fireplace,  he 
found  some  pieces  of  bone,  which  caused 
him  to  say:  “There  are  too  many  bits 
of  bones  in  this  fireplace  and  the  ashes 


56  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


are  too  greasy.”  A small  rock  taken 
from  the  ashes  was  put  into  water  to  see 
if  any  grease  bubbles  would  rise.  They 
did,  in  great  plenty.  It  was  discovered 
that  fresh  ashes  had  been  poured  in  a 
hole  near  the  spring.  Pieces  of  the  bone 
and  flesh  were  found  there,  also  a grid- 
iron, such  as  Charles  wore  on  his  hunting 
moccasins.  After  all  this  evidence, 
strong  and  convincing,  was  found,  a jury 
was  summoned  and  an  inquest  held,  and 
the  immediate  result  was  that  Frances, 
her  mother  and  youngest  brother  were 
arrested.  All  were  bound  over  to  court. 

“ £A  more  thorough  investigation 
about  the  place  revealed  substantial 
proof.  On  the  ground  under  the  house 
beneath  a dark  spot  on  the  floor,  a circle 
of  blood  as  large  as  a hog’s  liver  was 
found  and  the  walls  were  spotted.  There 
could  be  no  doubt,  Charles  had  been 
murdered  and  his  body  burned. 

“‘Frances  was  tried  at  Morganton, 
at  about  the  third  court  after  she  killed 
Charles.  She  got  out  of  jail  dressed  in 
a man’s  clothing,  and  escaped  into  the 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  57 


country,  following  the  wagon  of  her 
uncle.  The  sheriff  of  the  county,  dis- 
covering that  his  prisoner  had  fled, 
hurried  on  her  trail  and  overtook  her 
seven  miles  out  of  town.  He  rode  up 
close  and  said:  “Frances.”  She  turned 
and  answered:  “I  thank  you,  Sir,  my 
name  is  Tommy.”  “Yes,”  her  uncle  put 
in,  “her  name  is  Tommy.”  He  gave 
himself  and  the  woman  awav  by  saying 
“her.” 

“ ‘She  was  returned  to  her  cell  and, 
on  the  appointed  day,  the  12th  of  July, 
1833,  in  the  presence  of  a great  throng  of 
people,  was  hanged.  It  was  hoped  that 
she  would  make  a public  confession  on 
the  scaffold  and  she  seemed  prepared  to 
do  so,  but  her  father  yelled  out  from  the 
crowd:  “Die  with  your  secret,  Frances.” 
There  was  a sight  of  folks  there  to  see  her 
hanged. 

“‘Frances  Stewart  (Stewart  was  her 
maiden  name)  was  a mighty  likely  little 
woman.  She  had  fair  skin,  bright  eyes, 
and  was  counted  pretty.  She  had  charms. 
I never  saw  a smarter  little  woman.  She 


58  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


could  card  and  spin  her  three  yards  of 
cotton  a day  on  a big  wheel. 

“ ‘The  motive  for  the  crime  will  never 
be  known.  Jealousy,  she  claimed  in  a 
printed  ballad  that  she  made,  gave  rise 
to  the  first  thought.  Nobody  ever  im- 
agined any  one  that  she  had  cause  to  be 
jealous  of,  for  Charles  was  true  to  her. 
He  laughed  and  talked  with  the  women  of 
his  acquaintance,  but  that  was  all. 

“ ‘The  surviving  members  of  the 
Stewart  family  met  violent  deaths,  in 
one  form  or  another. 

“‘The  old  man,  Frances’s  father,  lost 
his  life  while  cutting  a rail  tree;  a limb 
struck  him  in  the  head  and  crushed  out 
his  brains.  The  mother  died  from  the 
effects  of  a snake-bite  and  was  in  great 
agony  the  last  hours  of  her  life.  Jake, 
one  of  the  brothers,  was  killed  during 
the  Civil  War.  Joe  met  a sudden  death, 
but  I have  forgotten  the  facts  concern- 
ing it.  Blackstone,  the  brother  charged 
with  helping  her  (Frances)  burn  my 
brother,  went  to  Kentucky,  stole  a 
horse,  and  was  hanged  for  it.  All  of 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  59 


them  went!  It  looks  like  God  made 
way  with  them  on  purpose.  I believe 
that  all  conspired  to  kill  Charles.  It  was 
a horrible  deed!  He  was  such  a fine 
fellow;  we  loved  him.’” 

Nancy,  the  little  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Frances  Silver,  grew  to  womanhood 
and  married  David  Parker,  who  died 
fighting  for  the  Confederacy,  at  the  first 
Battle  of  Manassas.  The  widow  married 
again  and  is  said  to  be  now  living  in 
Madison  County.  The  Stewarts  went 
to  Burke  from  Anson.  The  following 
verses  were  printed  on  a strip  of  paper 
and  sold  to  people  who  assembled  at 
Morganton  to  see  Frances  Silver  ex- 
ecuted. It  is  claimed  that  she  composed 
them  and  gave  them  out  as  her  confes- 
sion: 

This  dreadful,  dark  and  dismal  day 
Has  swept  my  glories  all  away, 

My  sun  has  set,  my  joys  are  past, 

And  I must  leave  this  world  at  last. 


60  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


Oh  God!  what  shall  become  of  me? 

I am  condemned  the  world  can  see. 

To  endless  doom  my  soul  must  fly, 

All  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

Judge  Donnell  has  my  sentence  passed. 

To  that  All-wise  Judge  I go  at  last; 

No  hope  to  lift  my  drooping  head, 

And  none  when  numbered  with  the  dead. 

Alas,  that  dreaded  Judge  I fear! 

Shall  I that  awful  sentence  hear 
“Depart  ye  cursed,  murderess,  fell, 

Into  a quenchless,  burning  hell”? 

1 feel  that  I shall  tended  be 
By  frightful  ghosts  of  misery 
Eating  my  flesh  by  endless  plan 

For  the  innocent  blood  of  a helpless  man. 

And  shall  I meet  that  manly  face, 

Whose  blood  I spilled  upon  his  place, 

With  flaming  eye  he’ll  accusing  plead; 

“Why  did  you  do  th’  unholy  deed?” 

In  that  last  calm  sleep  I see  him  now, 

The  beautiful  peace  on  his  handsome  brow; 
Our  winsome  babe  on  his  heaving  breast 
The  crimson  blade  and  the  dreamless  rest. 

Now,  that  1 can  no  longer  live 
Oh,  pitying  Lord,  my  crime  forgive. 

When  I hear  the  call  of  the  judgment  roll 
May  I appear  with  a blood  wo  shed  soul! 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  61 


In  the  foregoing  case  of  The  State  vs. 
Frances  Silver , it  might  be  of  interest  to 
here  append  a brief  judicial  history  of 
the  proceedings  and  the  opinion  of  Justice 
Thomas  Ruffin,  one  of  the  ablest  jurists 
North  Carolina  or  the  country  has  pro- 
duced. 

It  was  at  the  June  term,  1832,  of  the 
State  Supreme  Court  that  the  case  was 
heard  on  appeal  from  the  Superior  Court 
of  Burke  County,  presided  over  by  Judge 
Donnell. 

The  Supreme  Court  was  then  composed 
of  Hon. Leonard  Henderson,  Chief  Justice, 
Hon.  John  Hall,  Hon.  Thomas  Ruffin 
and  Hon.  Joseph  J.  Daniel.  The  Supreme 
Court  Reporter  was  Hon.  Thomas  P. 
Devereux,  and  the  Attorney-General 
was  Hon.  Romulus  M.  Saunders.  Taken 
by  and  large,  it  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  dignified  judicial  families 
that  ever  resided  in  the  Capitol  at 
Raleigh. 

The  following  is  the  opinion  as  handed 
down  by  Justice  Ruffin: 


62  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


“The  court,  at  the  request  of  the  jury, 
may  in  its  discretion  permit  a witness 
who  has  been  once  examined,  to  be 
called  again  at  any  time  before  the  ver- 
dict is  rendered,  notwithstanding  the 
witnesses  were  separated  before  their 
first  examination,  and  had  since  had  an 
opportunity  of  communicating  with  each 
other. 


“The  defendant  was  indicted  for  mur- 
der. On  the  trial  at  Burke,  at  the  last 
circuit,  before  His  Honor,  Judge  Donnell, 
the  State’s  witnesses,  at  the  request  of 
the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  were  sepa- 
rated. 

“After  the  jury  had  retired  and  re- 
mained together  all  night,  they  returned 
into  court  and  requested  that  some  of 
the  witnesses  who  had  been  examined 
the  day  before  should  be  called 
again.  The  prisoner’s  counsel  objected 
that  the  witnesses  had  had  an  opportu- 
nity to  be  together  since  their  examina- 
tion. But  the  presiding  judge  overruled 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  63 


the  objection  and  permitted  the  wit- 
nesses to  be  again  called  and  examined 
by  the  jury,  who  were  instructed  that 
they  ought  to  give  its  due  weight  to  the 
circumstance  that  the  witnesses  had  been 
together  during  the  night.  The  jury 
returned  a verdict  of  guilty,  and,  judg- 
ment of  death  being  pronounced,  the 
defendant  appealed. 

“The  Attorney-General  for  the  State. 

“No  counsel  appeared  for  defendant. 

“Ruffin,  Judge — The  separation  of  wit- 
nesses is  adopted  in  aid  of  the  cross- 
examination,  as  a test  of  the  truth  of 
their  testimony  by  its  consistency  or 
inconsistency.  It  is  not  founded  on  the 
idea  of  keeping  the  witnesses  from  inter- 
course with  each  other.  That  would  be 
a vain  attempt.  The  expectation  is  not 
to  prevent  the  fabrication  of  false  stories, 
but  by  separate  cross-examinations  to 
detect  them.  Testimony  altogether  false 
might  be  imposed  upon  the  court  as  true, 
because  delivered  by  two  or  more,  trained 
to  the  same  tale;  or,  as  most  frequently 
happens,  because  some  indubitable  and 


64  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


undisputed  truth  is  mingled  with  much 
or  material  falsehood.  The  great  safe- 
guard against  such  a delusion  consists 
in  cross  examination,  in  which  a prompt 
succession  of  acute,  pertinent  and  per- 
emptory, and  sifting  interrogatories,  not 
anticipated,  and  for  which  answers  have 
not  been  provided,  surprises  and  betrays 
the  impostor.  And  such  cross-examina- 
tion is  most  effectual  when  the  witness 
cannot,  by  a knowledge  of  the  statements 
of  his  predecessor,  make  his  own  conform 
to  them.  The  thing  to  be  avoided,  then,  is 
not  that  the  witnesses  should  be  together, 
but  that  they  should  be  examined  to- 
gether. When  interrogated  separately, 
all  the  witnesses,  constantly  apprehen- 
sive of  the  detection  of  falsehood,  and 
finding  no  poise  or  support  but  in  the 
truth,  are  constrained  to  give  in  evidence 
the  facts  as  they  occurred. 

“I  find,  therefore,  nothing  in  the  law 
or  the  practice  which  forbids  the  exam- 
ination of  witnesses  who  have  been  to- 
gether after  being  sworn  or  even  once 
examined.  Indeed,  it  is  usual  to  keep 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  65 


them  together  in  the  same  room  and, 
after  a witness  has  been  examined,  to 
send  him  back,  after  there  be  an  expecta- 
tion that  he  will  be  called  again.  Had  the 
party  wished  to  recall  such  a witness, 
there  is  nothing  to  preclude  him  from 
doing  so  at  any  stage  when  it  would  be 
competent  for  the  party  to  recall  any 
witness. 

“But  even  that  is  a much  stronger  case 
than  the  present.  The  order  of  trial 
necessarily  imposes  upon  the  parties  the 
duty  of  making  out  their  cases  at  certain 
stages  of  the  proceedings.  They  must 
close  at  some  time;  and  after  that  they 
cannot  be  heard  again.  But  it  is  entirely 
regular  at  all  times  for  the  witness  to 
correct  his  own  mistakes  or  to  explain 
his  words  that  cannot  be  correctly  under- 
stood. No  rule  can  prescribe  to  the  jury 
the  duty  of  finding  a verdict  under  a 
misapprehension.  So,  if  the  jurors  do 
not  understand  the  words  or  the  meaning 
of  the  witness,  alike,  it  is  competent  and 
proper  for  them  to  ask  for  explanation 
before  it  is  too  late  to  act  on  it.  The 
5 


66  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


judge  may  indeed  give  it  from  his  notes; 
or,  preferring  a direct  to  the  witness  him- 
self, as  being  the  best  able  to  repeat  and 
explain  his  words,  and  as  being  again 
subjected  to  the  ordeal  of  cross-examina- 
tion, he  may,  in  his  discretion,  again  place 
the  witness  before  the  jury.  When  ex- 
planations are  thus  demanded  by  the 
judge  or  jury,  they  must  be  considered 
as  asked  for  the  maintenance  of  truth  and 
in  execution  of  justice.  There  is  no 
apprehension  of  trick  or  imposition  in 
such  cases,  as  there  would  be  were  the 
same  privilege  in  the  party.  If  indeed 
the  inquiries  of  the  jury  sought  evidence 
that  was  incomplete,  or  to  put  the  case 
made  by  the  parties  upon  new  points, 
the  court  would  undoubtedly  inform  the 
jury  of  their  impropriety  and  interdict 
them.  But  there  the  reexamination  was 
solely  to  satisfy  the  jury  of  the  testimony 
already  given,  and  the  greater  detail 
made  necessary  only  to  produce  that 
satisfaction.  So  we  must  consider  it; 
for  the  objections  are  not  taken  to  the 
subjects  of  the  interrogatories  or  the 


The  Case  of  Frances  Silver  67 


nature  of  the  answers,  but  only  that  the 
witnesses  were  examined  at  all  after 
having  been  together.  In  that  I see 
nothing  either  against  the  practice  or 
principle. 


“Per  Curiam.  Judgment  affirmed.” 


CHAPTER  VI 


The  Searching  Party 

Scientists  have  attempted  to  analyze 
and  explain  the  psychology  of  the  crowd 
— the  mob;  of  a mass' of  men  mad  and 
bent  on  accomplishment,  maybe  blood; 
but  no  one  has  essayed  to  translate  the 
secret  of  a whole  community  with  soul, 
mind  and  body,  intent  with  all  that  is 
best  in  the  human  constitution,  stirred 
to  the  depths  in  search  of  a lost  person, 
and  particularly  an  innocent  child,  and 
with  whom  there  is  associated  the  ele- 
ment of  foul  play. 

It  is  a case  of  the  common  sympathy 
and  suffering  of  the  popular  heart,  and 
which  suffering  makes  all  men  akin. 
This  common  interest  in  any  given,  con- 
crete example  uncovers  a kind  of  hidden 
greatness  in  the  individual  which  never 
comes  to  the  surface  except  as  forced 
there  by  some  tragedy  of  the  soul,  some- 
thing involving  the  welfare  of  a fellow- 
human. 

There  is  no  animal  so  wild,  not  even  a 
stampeded  herd  of  Texas  cattle,  as  a 


168] 


The  Skabqiieks 


' 


The  Searching  Party 


69 


multitude  of  people  in  a burning  build- 
ing. The  cry  of  fire  will  turn  a peaceful 
and  happy  audience  into  a howling  mass 
of  surging  maniacs;  and  most  men  are  as 
insane  as  any,  and  stalwart  males  will 
trample  women  and  children  to  make 
safe  exit  for  themselves  or  to  jump  from 
two-story  windows. 

The  conduct  of  people  in  search  of  a 
missing  child,  in  which  the  thought  of 
mischief  is  present  and  predominating, 
is  different  from  the  mob  fleeing  from  fire. 
Here  the  nightmare  of  fear  is  absent. 
In  the  case  of  fire,  the  element  of  selfish- 
ness predominates  and  makes  cowards. 
In  the  case  of  the  lost  child,  the  element 
of  benevolence  rules  and  makes  heroes. 

The  real  benefactor,  the  real  hero,  is 
he  who  becomes  unconscious  of  self  in 
the  presence  of  the  peril  of  others. 
Physical  and  moral  heroism  are  often 
found  in  the  same  individual,  so  often 
that  one  might  be  in  the  bounds  of  truth 
in  saying  that  such  is  the  rule.  But  it 
is  the  ofttimes  repeated  exception  that 
many  persons  are  morally  courageous 
and  physically  cowering.  Not  so  sym- 


70  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


pathy.  Sympathy  for  suffering  in  the 
shadow  of  wrong  might  be  said  to  be 
well-nigh  universal.  This  noble  attri- 
bute slumbers  in  the  individual  only  to 
be  aroused  by  nature’s  appeal.  It  is 
the  call  of  the  best  in  human  nature  and 
was  lodged  there  by  a kindly  providence 
as  a means  to  an  end.  It  is  given  to 
man  and  denied  to  animals.  It  circles 
the  heads  of  men,  in  mass,  as  an  aureole 
of  the  most  beautiful  kindredship  of 
feeling.  It  is  a sort  of  ethical  quick- 
silver which  involuntarily  assembles  the 
golden  particles  of  the  best  in  a broken 
race. 

It  is  a slight  reflection  of  the  divine 
with  which  man  was  imaged  at  the  be- 
ginning of  things.  The  search  for  baby 
Roberta  Putnam  has  not  a match.  It 
was  a case  in  which  the  whole  county 
was  absorbed.  Mothers  whose  hearts 
were  drawn  out  by  a natural  instinct 
were  eagerly  yearning  for  the  discovery 
of  the  child.  Little  children  exchanged 
their  simple  greetings  to  take  up  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  all-absorbing  topic  of  lost 
little  Roberta  Putnam.  Men  everywhere 


The  Discovery 


The  Searching  Party 


71 


exchanged  grave  glances  and  offered 
or  demanded  a solution  of  the  sad  and 
sorrowful  mystery.  The  whole  county, 
and  particularly  the  scene  of  the  occur- 
rence, was  alert  and  astir,  though  dazed, 
as  time  passed  and  no  clue  to  the  missing 
child  was  found.  From  this  state  of  sad 
bewilderment,  it  passed  to  that  of  a 
deep,  determined,  if  sullen,  purpose  to 
find  the  child  dead  or  alive  and  at  all 
hazards. 

A large  crowd  of  people  took  up 
the  search  in  the  Dellwood  settlement. 
This  party  was  composed  of  the  best 
people  of  the  entire  neighborhood — men, 
women  and  children.  They  swept  the 
twilight  groves,  the  deep  ravines,  the 
steep  mountain  sides,  the  cliffs  and  cav- 
erns as  a woman  would  sweep  the  house 
for  a lost  coin.  On  the  party  went,  by 
ones  and  twos  and  dozens,  up  the 
accusing  sides  of  Ad  Tate  Mountain. 
They  painfully,  slowly  swept  the  face 
of  the  hills  until  there  was  not  a suspi- 
cious nook  or  corner  into  which  some 
human  eye  had  not  peered.  But  that 
deep,  silent  sympathy  burned  ever  more 


72  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


passionately  in  each  searcher’s  soul  and 
that  grim  determination  to  which  it 
gave  birth  waxed  firmer  and  more  set. 

It  is  an  oft-repeated  observation  that 
when  the  individual  or  the  mass  become 
as  adamant  in  the  accomplishment  of 
a worthy  object,  it  will  not  be  long  until 
that  object  is  attained. 

The  crowd-purpose  once  fixedly  formed 
it  was  not  long  until  the  crowd-object 
was  accomplished  and  Roberta  Putnam 
was  found.  But  it  remained  for  an  in- 
nocent boy  of  twelve  years,  then,  to 
make  the  pathetic  and  chilling  discovery. 
This  boy’s  name  was  Frank  Janes.  It 
was  reserved  for  the  guileless  to  find  the 
pure  in  heart.  “Suffer  little  children.” 
The  household  of  the  just  is  made  up  of 
such. 

No  wonder  the  clean,  tender  heart  of 
the  boy  sank  within  him  when  he 
lifted  the  first  stones  and  peered  through 
the  openings  on  the  dim  outlines  of  the 
dead  child.  No  wonder  he  ran  in  wild 
excitement  around  the  mountain  side 
screaming  that  he  had  found  her.  There 
is  not  a strong  man,  with  a heart  of  flesh, 


When  the  Stones  Were  Rolled  Away 


The  Searching  Party 


73 


who  could  have  looked  unmoved  on  that 
unearthly  scene.  It  were  enough  to  have 
frozen  the  blood  of  a primitive  giant  of 
old. 

Is  it  not  also  true  that  life  cannot  long 
persist  in  the  presence  of  death,  or  in- 
nocence in  the  presence  of  guilt,  or  good 
in  the  atmosphere  of  evil?  Nay,  in  such 
case  the  innocent  must  be  swallowed  up 
of  evil  and  that  innocence  become  guilt, 
or  the  good  must  free  itself  of  the  deadly 
atmosphere  of  evil  and  rise  above  the 
taint  of  poisoned  environment.  Death 
is  the  very  fruitage  of  sin  and,  bibli- 
cally, death  and  sin  are  interchangeable 
terms.  And'so  the  boy  revolted  and  ran 
from  the  presence  of  death  and  the  sin 
that  inflicted  it. 

It  was  the  result  of  a tragedy  that 
lifted  the  voice  of  injury  and  the  wailing 
echoes  of  the  loved  and  lost  that  day  in 
that  sobbing  wilderness.  That  wild 
mountain  and  that  howling  cavern  where 
unsuspecting  infancy  beat  out  its  life 
against  the  cruel  walls  of  its  granite 
prison;  the  ominous  flap  of  the  tell- 
tale buzzard’s  sable  pinions  were  all  fit 


74  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


accusers  of  Nancy  Kerlee’s  crime  and 
painful  pointers  to  the  place  of  the  sub- 
ject’s ghostly  sepulture. 

How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that,  at 
long  intervals,  a lost  and  devouring  soul 
becomes  incarnated  in  human  form  and 
its  one  consuming  passion  be  the  taste 
of  human  blood?  It  is  the  rarest  thing 
in  the  world  when  so  bestial  a creature 
as  the  hog  will  become  so  unnatural  as 
to  turn  upon  its  offspring  and  devour  it. 
Such  a creature,  be  it  beast  or  human,  is 
a freak  and  cannot  be  classed  as  a normal 
individual  of  its  species.  No  race,  no 
species,  no  society,  has  ever  been  immune 
from  the  appearance  of  this  strange 
apparition  at  untoward  intervals.  This 
conviction  is  urgent,  but  let  us  hope 
otherwise  for  the  future. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Nancy 
Kerlee  was  one  of  the  most  pronounced 
of  these  human  freaks.  Her  very  looks, 
her  face  and  form,  are  the  most  eloquent 
and  convincing  arguments  in  support  of 
the  theory  that  she  was  a total  and  utter 
moral  reprobate;  that  her  degeneracy 
was  complete  both  by  heredity  and  per- 


The  Searching  Party 


75 


sonal  training;  that  only  half  of  her  per- 
sonality had  been  cultivated  or  allowed 
to  develop  by  natural  tendency,  and 
that  her  moral  self  had  steadily  beaten 
the  paths  of  least  resistance.  Her  life 
stood  shrouded  by  the  mists  of  darkness 
and  moral  neglect.  The  unspeakable 
pity  of  it!  And  we  would  insist  as  we 
have,  in  another  place  in  this  little 
brochure,  that  her  crime  calls  to  heaven 
for  punishment;  but  the  fact  of  the  ex- 
istence of  so  unfortunate  a being  should 
call  for  the  profoundest  individual  and 
public  concern.  It  should  cause  the 
best  of  human  nature  to  react  upon  it- 
self, and  to  recall  that  thundering  verity 
that  we  ourselves  are  the  products  of 
a more  fortunate  parentage,  a more 
favorable  environment,  simply,  and  that 
we  ourselves  have  little  or  nothing  of 
which  to  boast;  that  it  is  our  Christian 
duty  and  privilege  to  begin  or  continue, 
if  we  have  begun,  a crusade  to  make  a 
freak  in  the  body  social,  such  as  the 
subject  of  our  treatment  here,  an  ulti- 
mate impossibility;  to  seek  out  the  help- 
less, socially  and  morally,  in  our  com- 


76  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


munity  and  render  such  a character  as 
Nancy  Kerlee  unknown  to  civilized 
society  by  training.  This  poor  being, 
bearing  the  name  she  happened  to  bear, 
was  a body  without  a soul  if  there  ever 
was  one.  Her  likeness  may  be  herein 
studied.  Her  form  was  that  of  a mere 
semblance  of  a human.  Her  dead,  expres- 
sionless face  is  that  of  one  from  which 
the  lume  of  intellect  had  passed  forever. 
Her  low,  wrinkled  brow  surrounded  by 
a shock  of  disheveled  hair;  her  fireless 
eyes  almost  hidden  in  their  dark  sockets 
by  low-drooping  lids;  her  cavernous  jaws 
and  queer  feline  nose  and  mouth;  her 
short,  tendonous  neck;  square  shoulders; 
flat,  wizened  chest,  bony  hands  and 
clenched  fingers,  would  remind  one  of 
the  witches  of  whom  one  reads  in 
ancient  and  medieval  story. 

It  is  one  of  the  rare  cases  where  the 
culprit,  from  the  moment  the  first  breath 
of  suspicion  blew  upon  her  head,  to  the 
moment  when  the  sentence  of  the  court 
was  pronounced  and  she  was  consigned 
to  the  State’s  prison  for  thirty  long  years, 
her  silence  was  unbroken  either  by  verbal 


Nancy  Kerlee — The  Murderess 


The  Searching  Party 


77 


confession  or  the  emotional  evidence  of 
a self-pitying  or  contrite  heart. 

For  the  steadfast  maintenance  of  a 
rockbound  will  in  the  purpose  never  to 
divulge  her  stygian  secret,  as  well  as  the 
preservation  of  a passivity  worthy  of 
the  hardiest  of  the  Stoics  there  may  be 
a parallel,  but  not  a rarer  case  in  the 
annals  of  crime. 

In  the  case  of  Frances  Silver  there  was 
a well-defined  motive  and,  as  intimated 
in  a previous  section  of  this  chronicle, 
that  motive  was  that  crocodile  of  vices, 
jealousy. 

In  the  case  of  Nancy  Kerlee,  there  were 
not  any  co-conspirators.  In  that  of 
Frances  Silver,  her  whole  family  were 
involved.  In  the  case  of  Nancy  Kerlee 
there  was  the  plainest  and  most  certain 
clue  existing  from  the  beginning.  In  that 
of  Frances  Silver,  nearly  a hundred 
years  previous,  the  clue  had  to  be  sought 
with  unflagging  diligence. 

There  is  another  and  unique  distin- 
guishing feature  to  the  search  for  the 
body  of  the  husband  of  Frances  Silver, 


78  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


and  that  was  a resort  to  the  instruments 
of  superstition.  When  it  became  appar- 
ent that  all  human  agencies  had  failed 
to  discover  the  remains  of  Charles  Silver, 
his  father,  a man  of  strong,  native  intel- 
ligence, crazed  by  the  consciousness  of  a 
lost  son  under  foul  circumstances,  heard 
of  a barbarian  Guinea  negro  who  lived 
forty  miles  away  in  the  State  of  Tennessee 
and  who  was  said  to  locate  things  by  a 
mystic  ball  which  he  possessed.  He 
forthwith  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
to  a Mr.  Williams  in  Tennessee,  with 
whom  this  barbarian  negro  lived.  The 
negro  was  absent  himself,  but  Mr.  Wil- 
liams volunteered  to  read  and  interpret 
the  language  of  the  strange  sphere. 

After  a second  trial  and  interpretation 
of  the  queer  ball,  Williams  assured  old 
Mr.  Silver  that  the  remains  of  his  son 
Charles  were  somewhere  in  or  close  to 
the  house,  whereupon,  the  old  man  took 
his  leave  and  returned  home.  On  arriving 
at  home  he  was  met  with  the  tidings  that 
his  murdered  son  had  met  that  tragic 
death  in  his  own  cabin,  supposedly  at 
the  hands  of  his  young  wife,  and  his  body 
had  been  cremated  in  his  own  fireplace. 


The  Searching  Party 


79 


Later  on  Frances  Silver,  the  wife, 
virtually  confessed  her  horrid  deed  in  a 
half-dozen  qualmish  quartrains,  which 
the  writer  has  adapted  to  the  admission 
which,  if  she  ever  wrote  the  lines  (a 
matter  of  doubt),  she  evidently  intended 
to  make. 

An  interesting  question  is  the  one  as 
to  whether  there  is  the  interplay  of  the 
inexplicable  between  the  world  of  the 
material  which  man  may  see  and  feel 
and  that  of  the  unseen,  the  immaterial, 
and  what  science  would  term  the  occult. 

Is  there  an  intelligence,  a kind  of 
spiritual  policeman,  whose  “beat”  is  the 
outer  confines  of  this  earth-world  of  ours, 
and  whose  business  it  is  to  serve  the  ends 
of  justice  by  making  known  the  machina- 
tions and  the  dark  deeds  of  the  servants 
and  convicts  of  the  nether  world? 

There  was  Saul  and  the  Witch  of 
Endor,  and  all  down  the  ages  men  have 
found  out  things  that  no  human  device 
or  ingenuity,  in  itself,  could  fathom. 
Martin  Luther,  himself,  believed  in 
witches. 


80  Serpent  Slips  into  Modern  Eden 


Note. — One  thing  is  certain:  an 
examination  of  the  court  records  of  Hay- 
wood County  will  consistently  show  that 
crime,  no  matter  how  high  or  revolting, 
and  no  matter  the  social  standing  and 
respectability  of  the  party,  has  never 
been  known  to  go  unwhipped  of  regular 
and  speedy  justice;  and  the  law-abiding 
reputation  of  her  citizenship,  with  that 
of  her  sister  counties  throughout  the 
Appalachian  range,  is  equal  to  that  of 
any  section  of  the  country,  and  this 
reputation  is  founded  in  fact  and  growing 
every  hour. 

When  the  evil  of  moonshining  and 
bootlegging  shall  have  been  wiped  off  our 
fair  mountain  map,  and  the  lamp  of 
learning  shall  light  up  our  romantic 
gorges,  as  it  is  surely  and  rapidly  doing 
through  our  splendid  system  of  public 
schools  and  highways,  the  criminal 
dockets  shall  dwindle  to  nothing,  and  the 
civil  courts  shall  themselves  feel  a per- 
ceptible lightening;  and  sober  justice 
shall  distinguish  the  dealings  of  man 
with  man. 


